Unimpressed3D

Starting an MA program come fall... I'm still debating what to do with the summer, but right now, I'm strongly leaning toward getting the hell out of here ASAP (as in, shortly after I get my BA, mid-May-ish), and just getting myself settled where I'm going. I'm 90% sure of which school I want to go to now, so I figure I might as well get established in my new environment. I absolutely have to work, and soon, to get through the summer until classes start. (I haven't been, due to a very heavy course load.) But I figure it's best just to use the funds I do have to move and get a steady job in the new city, rather than go through a string of headaches finding shorter-term jobs in both places. I'm hoping I can get a position with my soon-to-be professors, or else some kind of summer student position in another department. I might start emailing them about this soon, come to think of it. I'm a little surprised that my coordinator didn't direct me toward these kinds of departmental resources when he learned I'm looking, but I don't know if that's normal or what. I'm very excited to get started with this new chapter of my life, and even more excited that it's so much closer within reach than the August move date I'd originally planned on. I see no reason to bake here through another summer if I don't need to.

How did you fund it? I got into Exeter and King's College London (so far), but my funding seems much better for the US schools I was accepted into. (This is for MA programs.) I'm still weighing my options, but I'd like to at least see if the UK schools are financially feasible options. I'm probably going to pass on King's just because London is so damn expensive, but I also applied to Southampton, Kent, and East Anglia, and I want to make sure I consider each program carefully before making such an important decision.

Yes, I'm going to try, though it would be huge stretch for them (a difference of about $23K, I think, since the $10K they're offering is just toward tuition, which would require me to take out more in loans). At the least, I just want them to make attending financial secure enough for me to do it without always worrying about making ends meet. School B is a lower ranked program, without a PhD program, so I'm worried about my chances of getting into a good PhD program down the line if I go there.

It's an MA program, offering me $10K. This is only towards tuition (covers most of it, if not all), and I'd get by the first semester with the federal loan. But the second semester, most of the loan money would go toward the tuition. If I had a job, I'm sure it would be OK, but this is in another city. I've never secured a job/housing in another city without some savings that allowed me to move there first and search. Which I probably could even in this case. I'm just nervous I won't be able to find/work a job that covers living expenses while doing good work in the program. The situation would be slightly better, if memory serves, the second year with a TAship.

I'm really torn. I really want to go to school A - better program, better city, higher ranking, better fit for my interests, and I think, a better cultural environment all around. I think I'd be happier going to this school. If only I can afford it. School B, though, is offering full funding. It's a safer, cheaper area, but the cultural and intellectual life is in that area isn't nearly as rich, it's lower-ranked, and though I could make it work with my interests, it doesn't have as much to offer in general. I think School A would provide a better, more rigorous education, especially in terms of preparation for grad school (unlike School B, they have a PhD program in my field...which is probably why they're not offering me as much money). I think I'd be happier going to School A than School B, especially since I'd always wonder, and regret not trying to make it work where I really wanted to go. I'm really nervous about not having enough money, though. I have enough to cover the tuition, but it's living expenses that worry me. One of my professors said to send School A the offer from School B. Is this done? How should I broach the topic of asking for more money? I think that if I can attend School A, I should do so. I'm having trouble deciding what's financially doable, though, and asking School A to raise its offer seems completely nerve-wracking. Has anyone done this successfully? How should I go about it???

Has anybody heard back from Rutgers yet? (Sorry if I missed this somehow.) Though I got rejected from every other PhD program so far. I did get accepted into two MA programs, though, which I'm told is good since I'm still an undergrad finishing up my BA this semester. I'm now waiting on Rutgers and a few UK schools before I make my decision. Of course, even if I get in, it will all come down to funding. *sigh*

Thanks for this! I just got admitted, too, and I'm trying to figure out if I can make it work financially. I know Boston just outstripped NYC in being the most expensive city to live in. I'll be PM'ing you, too, if you don't mind...

Thanks, Sura. He gave me a few days' range to call, so maybe I shouldn't do it today. I have classes most of the day...but this whole week is really busy, with a midterm and a paper due. It's chaotic applying while still trying to finish up your undergrad degree. Anyway, I hardly know what questions to ask, though I'm very curious about the program and have tons of ideas of what I might like to do there. They have certain special advantages that most of the other schools don't have, in terms of specialization in my interest areas. I just don't want to sound scattered and start "winnowing in every wind."

I'm supposed to return a call to school A tomorrow. But I'm still waiting to hear back from 10 other schools. I want to communicate that I'm excited, flattered, that it's pretty high on my list, but that I still want to wait for the other schools. It's a good offer, with good funding. I would be happy to accept, but I can't very well do that this early in the game. But how do you communicate that? Respectfully, while still coming across as happy about it as I am? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! This is my first time going through all this, and it's frankly very intimidating!

Thanks. I think it's working now, though it was freezing up on the drive home this evening (first time it's done that). I'll take it back again if necessary. But yes, I would think email would be the channel for official communication. I'm sure I'll be hearing from the rest of schools soon, and it looks like most of the ones I haven't heard from, no one else has heard from yet, either. Or very few, which either means they're being nominated for institutional fellowships or...I didn't get in. Of course, if I haven't heard back by April or so, I might contact them...

Heard back from one more school: Princeton (English). Rejected, alas. Still waiting on 11/14 schools. Does anyone know if there are any schools who contact you by phone? I may have been having issues receiving calls the last 2 weeks. I don't think initial contact by phone is at all likely, but of course I'm liable to freak out at a time like this. I tried checking the status of my applications, but most of the systems don't seem to allow that. They just say the application has been successfully submitted.

God help me. I just realized my phone may not have been working properly for the last couple of weeks. I thought it was, but I just got an email from a friend on the east coast who says she's been getting error messages - not in service or whatever - trying to call me 2-3 times since about the 4th. It wasn't urgent, and I guess it didn't occur to her that I didn't know, so she just now emailed me! Shit! Now what? How common is it even for schools to call? I'm in English, for which I hear interviews are rare. The 3/14 I've heard from have all been emails. Do any of them actually contact you for the first time by phone??? And what do I do if I missed a call...? I haven't gotten anything snail mail, either. I'm telling myself email is the only logical method of contact, unless they want to interview, and I don't think any of the schools I've applied to even do that. I'm going to the AT&T store first thing tomorrow, of course...

Whoops, sorry, everyone. I just replied to a thread I saw in the sidebar on the homepage...heading over to the English subforums...

I wondered about the protocol for this, too, but I responded with a short thank you, anyway. I just hope it doesn't read like an acceptance of the offer, because I don't want to be rash. I didn't ask about time frames to make a decision, either, though, because....well...I'm new at this, and still too nervous. Is it reasonable to assume that I need to let them know by April 15th if they don't tell me otherwise?

So I got my first rejection today, from Brown. Disappointing, as they were one of my top choices. So far, I've only heard from them and Oregon State, which accepted me. (Glad that email came first. :D) They didn't give me any kind of time frame, though, to make a decision. Should I just assume I can let them know by April 15th?

I am so glad I found this thread. I have been fuming today after sitting through yet another session of a class in which the professor uses the podium as her damn pulpit. (I know I shouldn't have hung on to it that long, but I couldn't reach a resolution about what to do, and she touched on a lot of things that are highly sensitive because of my background.) She's extremely backward, to the point where calling her a conservative is an almost indisputable insult to bona fide conservatives. (I'm a moderate, for the record.) Among her other gems: - child abuse should be legal because it's dangerous to let the government intervene in "the sanctity of the family" - marriage should never be dissolved under any circumstances (!) - "normative morality" is absolutely indispensable for the security, strength, and vitality of a culture (I actually agree with her on the concept of normative morality as such, but I fiercely disagree with her as to what constitutes said morality vs. immorality.) - Islam is taking over Europe, and America's next unless we preserve traditional mores regarding divorce, child-rearing, women...Heh??? Even entertaining her premise, how the hell are these things pertinent while things such as, I don't know, foreign policy and immigration (slaps forehead) not even worthy of mention in her self-indulgent little tirades? - endless, blind, and groundless assertions regarding human nature, women, men, and what is (politically, socially, psychologically) "possible" This is a literature class, and she spent the entire first hour of an hour and fifteen minute class pontificating, "teaching" us (ha ha) about how foolish it is for the West, especially America, to abandon "tradition" in almost every sphere of human activity. She criticizes the Catholic Church for reforms, emphatically says she is not a fan of Pope Francis, and claims, rather absurdly, to be an expert on Catholicism, though not being one herself. I'm Catholic, and this is part of what I find offensive, especially since she appropriates and misrepresents some aspects of the Church's history and teachings (to whitewash what she considers traditionalism, which would really be more palatable to a Neanderthal than a conservative, as I said). She reserves special antipathy for feminism in all its forms. She never teaches what we signed up to learn, the subject of the class, but she uses NON-assigned texts to twist them (like the assigned ones, on the rare occasions she talks about them) in a delusional effort to prove her own points. She said that a character in a completely unrelated book is a real "lady" because she blamed herself for being duped by a gold-digging pair of lovers, and decided to stay with the guy even after she found out that not only did he literally con her into marrying him, but that their whole marriage was a fraud. She (the professor) spoke approvingly of this poor idiot of a woman refusing to leave for a man who really did love her, under the "reasoning" of "I can't do it - I'm a married woman now." (!) Then the prof adds, dropping all pretense that she's not preaching, "Marriage is a commitment. It's hard work. You can't just run away every time there's a problem." (!!!???) I want to slap this creature. She also spoke approvingly of Anna Karenina, but that was nothing compared to this. Being defrauded and ending up in a straight-up farce of a marriage is having just another "problem" that should be "worked out"??? In the Church's defense, such a sham "marriage" is very clearly and automatically considered perfectly null and void, for the record. These things are explicitly laid out in canon law: under all kinds of conditions, annulments are given and you can marry again with the Church's blessings. Being a victim of fraud is not a sin, and no matter how foolish you were to trust the wrong person (who is the guilty one, as they were intending to trick you), you are not authentically married under such circumstances, and certainly are not left to rot as some warped punishment. She's constantly misrepresenting authentic Church teaching (which, I'm the first to admit, is far from perfect, especially regarding women...but nowhere near as looney as she approvingly claims) to bulwark her own bizarre, Neanderthal assertions...all of which have nothing to do with what we're paying to learn! It really gets to me that this anti-feminist "lady"-lauding freak of a dinosaur dresses like a whore herself. She's ~60, yet makes herself up to look like a 25-year-old prostitute. (She even admitted to marrying her husband for money - yeah, just that openly - and brags about what he bought her...and then brags about how she stayed with him 40 years until his death... She also spoke rather favorably about an adulterous couple who dutifully stayed with their spouses, while carrying on an affair for decades. Hmmm...) She has very clear ideas about what a woman should be, but they're not truly traditional; they're perverted. And she looks like such an outrageous yet especially scary spokesperson for her twisted ideals. An official senior citizen parading about like a hot, cool "traditional woman" using beauty as her power... Excuse me, but how can you be both a "dutiful" lady and a whore? And how is the latter a good or appropriate champion of the former??? What the hell is wrong with this picture? This "traditional" 60-something who's so enamored with "the good old days" runs around in four-inch heels, really short skirts, heavy makeup and lipstick, her really long dyed blond hair always looking teased...freaky. :/

Congrats! I'm assuming you'd rather go to your reach schools? As to your question, fit does seem the likeliest explanation.

@A blighted one Good luck! I applied for the MA in Literature and Culture. They said they're not notifying most of their candidates for another few weeks, though. The reason I was contacted early is that they're nominating me for a fellowship. I think there are two people being nominated for that, and another for an institutional scholarship. They didn't mention numbers for the cohort, though.

Thanks! It's Oregon.

I was accepted into OSU's MA program! This is the first school I've heard back from, only a few weeks after submitting my application. Very excited! (Not to mention surprised at hearing so early.) Still haven't heard a peep from the other schools, but a thorough examination of the Results Survey revealed that none of them have sent out responses or interview invitations yet (or at least not in my program). Congrats to everyone who's already been accepted or invited to an interview!

Thanks for weighing in on the UK schools, piglet33. I didn't really think international schools would insist on in-person, and that seems rather unreasonable, anyway. I'm hoping they'll agree to Skype or phone interviews, or better yet, they'll forego the whole interview thing altogether...*fingers crossed*.

Thanks, Pink Fuzzy Bunny! Your reasoning makes perfect sense. I know adcomms must be used to this kind of thing, but it's all new to me. Oh, and I'm a she. But thanks all the same.

Thanks, all! What a relief! About the interviews, and especially about travel. And yes, if they're willing to reimburse me, of course, I'd love to go check out these schools before I commit myself to one for ~2-5 years. I'm sure that's too much to expect for the UK schools, though. But I'm highly appreciative of their rolling deadlines, without which I probably wouldn't have been able to apply at all. Yes, I am certainly very thankful that I already have one in the bag! OSU is a good school, and I think it would be a good fit. Of course, I want to know my options before I make a decision, but it certainly makes waiting for the rest less painful than before.

So my field is English Literature, and I applied to...well, the schools that are in my sig. I only heard back from OSU yesterday, saying I was accepted and that I'm being nominated for the Provost's Fellowship. There was no mention of an interview. Are interviews common in my field? Does anyone know if my other schools are already contacting people or holding interviews? I didn't think I was supposed to hear anything until February, and I'd given little thought to the dread Interview at all. I somehow got the impression they'd let me opt out if I couldn't afford to travel. I'm the kind of person who tends to freak out and get really nervous about important social things, but it's even worse being nervous about whether I should've heard back or not by now. I'm financially unable to travel (there is no question of priority here...it is impossible), so they'll have to be over Skype or the phone...would that count against me???

So I got accepted into my "safety" school, which is the only domestic MA program I applied to. I'm still waiting to hear back from 8 others, plus the international applications I'm working on at the moment. I was shocked to hear back so early (though, of course, very pleased). I sent an email thanking the adcomm member, saying I'm honored to be nominated for the fellowship, etc. But I've been brain-dead with sickness since Thursday, and I also added that I couldn't give a definite response of acceptance this early, since I haven't heard back from any other school yet. Now I'm a little nervous that he might read that as "great!...if I don't get in anywhere else, I'll trot right over!" It's actually not the bottom school on my totem pole, but it's not the highest, either. I applied to four Ivies and four other really good schools, not to mention the ones abroad. I'm also trying not to get nervous about not having heard from the other schools yet. It's only January 23rd, for crying out loud. Every one of them said they notified people in February or later. And I've heard of people being notified of admits very late, too. I should be heartened and relieved, and I am. I think my brain has just gotten into this pattern of worst-case scenario thinking through this whole process. It's nerve-wracking!